Ofcom’s new scam-prevention rules: what businesses should know
Business as well as consumers are being targeted by criminal gangs with increasingly sophisticated scam mobile messages. Long-awaited rules focused on tackling scam advertising via mobile message services are now being implemented by Ofcom.
Business organisations are put at risk of significant financial and reputation harm as a result of SMS and WhatsApp scams, and spoof messages. For the cyber criminals – it has become a lucrative business.
The new Ofcom rules are intended to stop scammers accessing mobile messaging services; and where they do manage to gain access - prevent them from actually sending mobile message.
The aim is to increase protection for both consumers and businesses in a climate where the modus operandi of criminals is becoming increasingly harder to detect and easier to fool the targets.
It is a significant problem. According to Ofcom, 40% of UK mobile users reported having received at least one suspicious message on their mobile phone in the three months to February 2026. And these calls are not limited to those from the UK.
The regulator published a wide-ranging package of practical measures for mobile providers to adopt in order to block, limit and disrupt scammers. They have been designed to address existing loopholes in protection for consumers and businesses.
Businesses are sometimes targeted by scammers accessing a business’s messaging services, eg impersonating a legitimate business. These scam messages prompt the recipient to click on fake links or phone scam telephone numbers. The next step is getting the individual to share personal information, such as bank card details – or even to make payments.
What’s changing?
Mobile operators and ‘aggregators’ who transmit businesses’ mobile messages are now required to take positive action, including:
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